After the Second World War South African, cheese making followed the world trend in establishing small-to-large cooperative cheese factories making quality industrial cheeses.  This was done in a tightly government controlled environment to assist and support a developing dairy industry.  Unfortunately, this situation did not leave much room for innovation and product development.  Despite tight control, Italian cheese makers, Cremona and Bandini in Johannesburg and Della Donne in the Cape, made excellent cheeses which seldom reached consumers as most of it found its way into Italian restaurants, hungry for authentic cheese.  The controlled dairy industry left the consumer mostly with industry faithfulls such as Gouda, Cheddar, a single blue and white mould, Feta and processed cheese.  The catering trade had to be happy with mozzarella, cow’s milk pecorino and a white mould.  Later, Simonsberg Cheese, with its Danish cheese maker, Vesta Cheese, with the Von Wechmar brothers and Fairview, with their Saanen goats and innovative father-and-son team, supplied more continental types to hungry consumers.



The decontrolled era after 1986 gave many would-be cheese makers time to assess the situation and then, a quiet revolution started in the cheese making industry.  New cheeses started appearing at speciality shops and chefs started talking about new and innovative cheeses they have discovered and tasted.  In the Cape, Cyril and Charles Back added cow’s milk cheeses to their small range of goat’s milk cheeses, the Von Wechmars and Trevor Townsend joined forces at Simonsberg Cheese and Riaan and Shelley Lourens tried their hand at making a South African gruyere-type.  In the Kwazulu Natal Midlands Fran Vermaak established her Swissland Goat’s milk cheesery and around the corner the late Jimmy Harris started Bellevigne Cheese with his wife, Wendy and daughter Barbara, making the cheese.  In Gauteng, the Italians enlarged their cheese basket with new types such as Gorgonzola, parmesan and fior de latte while a number of new entrants to the north west of Johannesburg tried their hands at cheese making.  To the southeast of South Africa’s biggest cheese market, Hester Hoogendijk started making cheese with milk from her own herd while Norman and Rina Belcher started making cheese with the milk of their seven Saanen goats.  Dalewood Fromage, Foxenburg, Lancewood and grape farmer Sakkie Joubert started in the Cape and captured the attention of cheese lovers and chefs with their unique quality cheeses.  The age of the artisan cheese maker had started with gusto and consumers were smiling.  The first cheese festival, to introduce these new cheese makers and their cheeses to consumers, was held in Franschhoek and was a runaway success with 6 000 visitors attending.  This festival quickly outgrew its venue and had to be moved to larger premises to accommodate the 30 000 plus visitors it now attracts over four days.



Consumers embraced the new cheeses and cheese makers did not disappoint them; they improved their quality while enlarging their ranges.  Today, quality has improved to such a degree that when the question: ‘How does South African cheese compare with those of the rest of the cheese making world’, is asked, it can be objectively answered.  As South Africa, representative of the world’s two largest cheese competitions, the World Cheese Awards held in the UK and the Wisconsin based World Championship Cheese Contest; it is easy to answer it.  The number of medals won by the mere 50 – 60 South African cheeses entered annually at these competitions, with their more than 2 500 entries, speak for themselves.  The websites of cheese makers such Fairview, Dalewood Fromage, Simonsberg, De Pekelaar, Belnori, Healey’s and Lancewood proudly display the number of medals and awards they have won, and consistently so.